Gone
by apartmentstairs
Summary: She has to be strong, she has to move on. Sorry for the bad summary


**Hi everyone! This is my first True Blood story and the first of anything that I have written in a very long time. But this burst into my head tonight and I had to get it down. I guess I've been missing TB so much lately that this was bound to happen. It's short and I don't know if I even like it yet. But please, please, please review and let me know what you think! Thanks you guys!**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.  
**

She walks quickly through the dimly lit hallway and keeps her head ducked down. She avoids the elevators and takes the stairs. Despite her location a blood stained shirt is sure to cause alarm, especially among humans - which is all she would be encountering by now. She exit's the tall building from the back, directly into the parking lot. The sun is shining now, proudly displaying it's power but the air still has the crispness of morning.

She starts her car and takes a moment to herself. The severity of what has happened weights heavily on her shoulders, threatening to crush her beneath all of it's stifling pain. She breathes in jagged, deep breathes, trying to keep her composure. She has to be strong, especially for all she is about to endure. She has to prepare for the pain she is about to inflict, she isn't the only one with a dog in this fight.

She drives slowly, her hands shake and head throbs. Her body is rebelling against her, rejecting the thought of her not breaking down. She glances down at herself at a red light. She's a mess. The red liquid is stark and painful against her white t shirt. She checks herself in the mirror, her hair is wild. Her face is tear stained. She looks more than tired, she looks dead. The irony isn't lost on her.

When she gets to the house she takes another moment. It's a beautiful building, hand crafted and built in seclusion but not so much that one can't access the world. This feature was for her. He would have been happy to live in the middle of nowhere, a place one could only find if looking for it, but he always had her best interests at heart. The light in the kitchen is on.

Hollis enters the house silently and listens to Kara and Neal for a few seconds. They are talking -laughing- and she needs to hold on to this sound for the last few fleeting seconds. They're in their early sixties, not legally married but they've been an item since their twenties. They were vampire sympathizers before people knew what that meant. They've been Hollis' caretakers since she can remember. He hired them to help do the things he never could - PTA, school functions, taking her to get her drivers license etc- and they all lived together in this big house. The perfect family, or a version of one. For a few morbid seconds Hollis allows herself to think. Kara and Neal are old, she doesn't have much longer until she is completely and utterly alone.

She's never had any real warm blooded friends and given the circumstances any vampire she knew before is no longer in the equation. She was always a play thing to them, something they tolerated because of him. They could never quite understand his affection for her, they didn't buy into the notion that she could be loved by someone, something, so old and powerful.

She shakes her head, and enters the kitchen.

The talking ceases immediately and they both rush to her side. Neal takes her shoulders into his hands and shakes her slightly. She knows how awful she looks and how worried they must feel.

"Hollis, what's wrong, honey? Talk to me." Kara pleads, looking down at her shirt.

Hollis opens her mouth to speak, knowing as soon as she says it, as soon as she confirms it that she is going to collapse and give into the pressure of sorrow that nips at her every heart beat.

"Godric's dead."

** Earlier** Calling Eric had not been high on her list of things she wanted to do. But she was getting desperate and to her delight he'd kept it short. And now he stood before her, delivering Godric back to her with frightful diligence. He looked tired, they both did, Sookie, the human who accompanied the other vampire, Bill, had filled her in on all the going ons at the church. She was relieved that they'd gotten there in time. Now the whole group, the coven, were coming to the house to welcome Godric back. They only had a few minutes alone.

Godric smiled at her, his hand reached towards her own and she took it willingly. His icy flesh no longer surprised her, quite the opposite, she loved it. It was reassuring, he was real and he was back. He was no longer in danger.

"My child." he said softly as she wrapped her arms around him.

She felt Eric watching them, his steely eyes darting back and forth between them trying to see if anything had changed between them. Trying to decide if Godric had perhaps taken the place that he had left.

"You should go to bed, it's late. And you have school tomorrow." Godric turned to face his guest "She is a few months away from graduation, she is going to be a teacher." he spoke proudly, like any parent. Eric nodded in the assurance that everything was as he had left it.

"That's great." Bill said. He spoke with a southern drawl and he sounded sincere.

"I wish I had gone to college." Sookie said, also sincerely and double the accent.

"Off to bed, I won't keep company long. You aren't missing anything, don't worry." Godric said with a tone of finality. She had no choice in this matter, not that she planned on fighting him anyways. For one, it would always be an uphill battle with him and she was exhausted.

"I'm glad your safe. I'll see you tomorrow." she said as she hugged Godric.

The explosion had knocked her out of sleep as abruptly as one could imagine. She barely had time to climb off the floor before her door flew open. It was Godric, followed closely by Eric.

"Are you alright?" Eric asked, he sounded almost scared.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" She addressed Godric.

"I'm fine but there are others who are hurt or worse. Go check on Kara and Neal for me. Eric, go with her."

"NO, I'll go alone. It's fine, tend to the others." she said pushing past both of them and slinking down the hall.

By the time everything was settled it was day light. Hollis went to school, worked her shift at the bookstore then came home. She had dinner with Kara and Neal before Godric rose. There was to be a meeting with Nan, he'd said. And Hollis had imposed herself and decided to tag along.

Hollis tried hard to focus on what Nan was saying but the way that Eric kept staring at her made it difficult. Finally she discreetly looked at him and raised her eyebrows in what she hoped was a menacing manner. When he smirked she knew she'd failed. Sookie sat at the table behind them, so Hollis quietly joined her.

"She's kinda scary, huh?" Sookie whispered, watching Nan.

"I've seen scarier."

"Can I ask you something?"

Hollis nodded. It was silly of her to ask, Sookie Stackhouse was a mind reader, something Hollis had picked up on the second she'd met her. When you spent your whole life surrounded by vampires you learned to pick up on special talents, and fast.

"What is the deal with you and Godric?"

"He raised me."

Her jaw dropped.

"He did?"

"He did."

Hollis heard Nan rise and watched her walk out. Everyone stared at Godric. Hollis had missed something.

Godric approached her and without so much as looking at Sookie took his makeshift daughter by the shoulders and looked at her very seriously.

"Hollis, go home. Go to sleep and go to school tomorrow. Don't talk back, just do it."

She tried to speak but he cut her off. And the words he spoke sent chills up her spine.

"I love you, you've always obeyed me so don't stop now. I love you, Hollis." and with that he exited the room with Eric in tow.

Warning bells sounded in her head, something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Her body felt like cement as she forced herself top follow them. Bill and Sookie said nothing.

She got to the hallway just as the door to the roof closed. She ran to catch up but she felt as if this were all a bad dream. It seemed like hours had passed by the time she reached the roof. Her stomach dropped at what she saw.

As much as she'd thought of Eric recently it barely registered to her that he was the one sobbing and talking. It took her a moment to recognize Swedish, it was language she and Godric rarely used.

"Godric." she called.

He spun to face her, Eric didn't move.

"Go home." he said, he spoke in Danish. Danish was his native tongue, he said.

"Come with me." Hollis countered.

Hollis watched the series of events that unfolded next in what seemed like slow motion. She felt herself speaking but she didn't know what she was saying. Then, in the end, she had stood with the much taller vampire and watched the only thing she'd ever had that resembled a Father die. She and Eric had both cried, their tears very different in color but not much else. As soon as it was over something had clicked. She knew she had to get Eric out of the sun. She'd taken his hand, the first time she had touched him in over two years, and she led him to his room. They didn't speak as he stripped off his clothes. She only entertained the thought of leaving for a few seconds and that was before he pulled her on the bed with him. She didn't give much thought to what was about to happen in that incredibly dark room. There wasn't much to be done that they hadn't already done, albeit a long time ago. But, in typical Eric fashion, he had surprised her. He laid his head on his chest and he had cried. Long, gut wrenching, sobs that left her tired. When it had stopped she knew he was asleep, or something close to it.

She'd risen, groped for her shoes and left the room to go home.**

The explosion had ruined the living room but left most of the rest of the house undamaged. The construction workers were already at work to repair the home.

The trio sat at the dining room table, trying to decide where to go from here.


End file.
